Determining bidder-aware values for configurable auction parameters

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media are provided for determining configurable auction parameters based upon historic auction information that includes identities of auction participants or bidders. Such configurable auction parameters specify values to be applied for particular auction parameters (e.g., floor price), at the time of an auction for available advertising space, when one or more of the auction participants are associated with specified identities. Further provided are systems and methods for, at the time of an auction for available advertising space, determining auction parameter values in accordance with configurable auction parameters.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . One or more computer-readable storage media storing computer-useable instructions that, when used by one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to perform a method for determining values for configurable online advertising auction parameters, the method comprising:
 receiving, from an online content publisher, at least one configurable auction parameter, the online content publisher having available advertising space, and the at least one configurable auction parameter being configurable based upon an identity of one or more participants in an auction for the available advertising space;   receiving, in the auction for the available advertising space, bids from the one or more participants for the available advertising space, each of the one or more participants having an associated identity; and   determining a value for the at least one configurable auction parameter based upon the associated identities of the one or more participants in the auction for the available advertising space.   
     
     
         2 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one configurable auction parameter is a floor price. 
     
     
         3 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one configurable auction parameter is provided as a vector. 
     
     
         4 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises providing historic auction information to the online content publisher prior to receiving the at least one configurable auction parameter. 
     
     
         5 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 4 , wherein the historic auction information includes identities associated with participants of historic auctions for available advertising space. 
     
     
         6 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 5 , wherein the historic auction information further includes one or more of identities of winning participants of historic auctions, winning bids associated with historic auctions, and non-winning bids associated with historic auctions. 
     
     
         7 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 1 , wherein the value for the at least one configurable auction parameter is determined to be a first value for each of the one or more participants in the auction for the available advertising space if the associated identities of the one or more participants in the auction include at least a first identity or group of identities specified by the configurable auction parameter, and wherein the value for the at least one configurable auction parameter is determined to be a second value for each of the one or more participants in the auction for the available advertising space if the associated identities of the one or more participants in the auction include at least a second identity or group of identities specified by the configurable auction parameter. 
     
     
         8 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 1 , wherein the auction is a second-price auction. 
     
     
         9 . A system for determining values for configurable online advertising auction parameters, the system comprising:
 an advertising exchange mechanism having one or more processors and one or more computer-readable storage media; and   a data store coupled with the advertising exchange mechanism,   wherein the advertising exchange mechanism:   provides historic auction information to an online content publisher having available advertising space;   receives, from the online content publisher, at least one auction parameter that is configurable based upon an identity of one or more participants in an auction for the available advertising space; and   conducts the auction for the available advertising space in accordance with the at least one auction parameter.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the system conducts the auction for the available advertising space by:
 receiving bids from a plurality of auction participants, each of the plurality of auction participants having an associated identity; and   determining a value for the at least one configurable auction parameter based upon the associated identity of at least one of the plurality of participants in the auction for the available advertising space.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one configurable auction parameter is a floor price. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the historic auction information includes identities associated with participants of historic auctions for available advertising space. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the historic auction information further includes one or more of an identity of winning participants of historic auctions, winning bids associated with historic auctions, and non-winning bids associated with historic auctions. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the value for the at least one configurable auction parameter is determined to be a first value for each of the one or more participants in the auction for the available advertising space if the associated identities of the one or more participants in the auction include at least a first identity or group of identities specified by the configurable auction parameter, and wherein the value for the at least one configurable auction parameter is determined to be a second value for each of the one or more participants in the auction for the available advertising space if the associated identities of the one or more participants in the auction include at least a second identity or group of identities specified by the configurable auction parameter. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the auction for the available advertising space is a second-price auction. 
     
     
         16 . A method being performed by one or more computing devices including at least one processor, for determining configurable auction parameters, the method comprising:
 receiving historic auction information from an advertising exchange, the historic auction information including identities associated with participants of historic auctions for available advertising space; and   based at least on the identities associated with the participants of historic auctions for available advertising space, determining at least one configurable auction parameter, wherein the at least one configurable auction parameter specifies a first value for the auction parameter if the associated identities of one or more participants in an auction for online advertising space include at least a first identity or group of identities, and wherein the at least one configurable auction parameter specifies a second value for the auction parameter if the associated identities of one or more participants in the auction for online advertising space include at least a second identity or group of identities.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one configurable auction parameter is a floor price. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the historic bid information further includes one or more of an identity of winning participants of historic auctions, winning bids associated with historic auctions, and non-winning bids associated with historic auctions. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising providing the at least one configurable auction parameter to an advertising exchange for use in determining which value to utilize for the at least one configurable auction parameter in the auction for available advertising space. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the auction for online advertising space is a second-price auction.